He's great, both as a songwriter and a performer. Very much in the same style as Steve Earle, I'd say, and just as good. He's got the same knack Earle has of writing lyrics that manage not only to rhyme and scan perfectly, but also to sound like natural speech.

I've got all McMurty's CDs, and I've been lucky enough to see him live twice now, once in London and once in Pittsburgh. It was hearing We Can't Make it Here Anymore on Andy Kershaw that first got me into him and, for my money, his other absolute standout songs are Choctaw Bingo, Out Here in the Middle and Memorial Day.